The expression "m × n" represents the multiplication of two numbers, where "m" and "n" can be any integers or real numbers. This operation calculates the total quantity when "m" groups of "n" items are combined. For example, if there are 3 groups of 4 apples, the total number of apples is 3 × 4 = 12. In mathematics, multiplication is one of the four basic operations, alongside addition, subtraction, and division. It is often visualized using arrays or grids, where "m" indicates the number of rows and "n" indicates the number of columns. This helps in understanding concepts like area, where the area of a rectangle can be calculated using the formula length × width.